Andrew Welker, shown receiving congratulations following a playoff score two years ago, was one of two City Islanders to score three goals in a game — until Lucky Mkosana chalked up a hat trick in Wednesday's 5-1 victory over Dayton.
(Sean Simmers, PennLive.com)

With his hat trick in Wednesday's 5-1 thumping of Dayton —
and all of the necessary work was done in a mere 63 minutes — Lucky Mkosana
became the third player in City Islanders history to score three times in one
game.

Lucky Mkosana, shown celebrating a finish last season, became the third City Islanders player to register a hat trick when he bagged three in Wednesday's 5-1 win over Dayton.Patriot-News file

While Mkosana's first score came in the eighth minute
following a swift build-up by the City Islanders — Jason Pelletier assisted on the play — No. 2 occurred right after
the break when Matt Bahner knocked down a clearance attempt, claimed possession
and centered the ball.

Mkosana merely had to tap it in.

"Bahner really did a good job," said Mkosana, who has scored
five times in the last three games after going two-plus months without a goal.
"He pressured and did all the work. I give all the credit to Bahner. He should
have scored, but that came down to teamwork again. He saw I was in a better
spot and played me the ball."

The 25-year-old Mkosana completed his hat trick in the 61st
minute, getting just enough of a Morgan Langley cross with his head/upper torso
to slip the ball past beleaguered Dayton keeper Matt Williams (5 saves) and make
it 4-1.

"Things are going well," Mkosana added, again downplaying a
torrid week that began with a game-winning score on Friday night at Tampa Bay
and another goal one night later at Orlando. "I feel like it all comes down to
teamwork."

"When he went in [the starting lineup] and we went down on
that trip, we expected him to score," City Islanders head coach Bill Becher
said. "It's funny, but we had no doubts and all the confidence in the world in
Lucky.

"Sainey [Touray] went down [with a hamstring injury] and
Lucky went in and he scored goals. ... They're both good players, they're both
confident, they both can score goals. It's great to have both of them on form."

Added Pelletier: "It's awesome that we have
two of those guys, with him and Sainey, to know that if we're ever struggling
in a game we have someone who might make something happen, do something special
to pull us out of it."

With his three-goal burst, Mkosana upped his season total to
eight finishes, one more than he posted all of last season. He also has 15
career goals in a Harrisburg uniform, a number that ranks him fifth in City
Islanders history.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

If there was one sequence that significantly changed the
complexion of Wednesday night's game, just roll the video back to the closing
moments of the opening half.

Locked in a 1-1 tie, the City Islanders were able to
side-step two Dayton scoring opportunities in the 44th minute as
goalkeeper Nick Noble made terrific reaction saves to deny Joel DeLass and
Thomas Garner in bang-bang fashion.

Stephen Basso, shown during the City Islanders' June friendly against Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union, pocketed a clutch goal in Wednesday's 5-1 win over Dayton.Joe Hermitt, PennLive.com

Moments later, after some terrific combination work between
Stephen Basso and Pelletier, the City Islanders motored in front when Basso turned
Pelletier's slick dish into a go-ahead score by knocking a shot off the right
post that settled in.

"It could have been totally different," Pelletier said. "Us
going into half down 2-1, we don't have that confidence to put the pressure
high and Bahner may not get [the assist] on that third one. Those five minute,
even though halftime split in between, I think those were the vital five
minutes. Nick made two great saves and it could have been 2-1 going into half
and then we're panicking a little bit."

"Basso's goal was huge, that put us up 2-1," Becher said. We
talked about it in the locker room, if we defend well in the second half we'll
score two or three more goals. That's what we said, because we could see they
were a little unorganized in the back and we were causing them problems. We
knew if we could take care of our defensive stuff, we could score goals."

TIMELY RESPITE

With Wednesday night's victory safely in the bag — and no
games scheduled Wednesday's tussle in Phoenix — Becher and the rest of his
staff decided to give the City Islanders the rest of the week off to recollect
themselves and recharge.

"I think the guys need a little bit of a break to refresh
themselves, more mentally probably than physically," Becher admitted. "Just to
get away from each other, get away from it for a bit. What we're hoping is they
come in hungry and fresh on Monday and we travel and get after it up there."

Harrisburg will leave Tuesday for Arizona, then after
playing the Wolves will close out a two-game western swing Saturday night at
Los Angeles.

"It's huge, just the fact to rest up," Pelletier said. "It
couldn't have come at a better time. We only have three weeks left and you want
to be in stride when you go into the playoffs. You want to be fit, you want to
be on top of your game.

"We'll get away from it and then we'll just come back with
more fire," Pelletier added. "It's not like we're coming back and we're going
to be doing harsh stuff. If we have fresh legs, we'll beat anybody."

Matt Bahner, shown here, recorded his first professional point early in the second half of Wednesday's 5-1 victory over Dayton with a pass to Lucky Mkosana.Patriot-News file

* Matt Bahner (@Bahnes_17): 1st pro assist and
point tonight! Unbelievable feeling! Best part is we won too!

* Lucky Mkosana (@Luckynumber17_): Great team effort
tonight, and a good win. Congrats to my boy @Bahnes_17 on his first career
assist.

MORE NUMBERS

* Noble notched his 12th victory, establishing a
single-season standard in that category. Noble also collared his 22nd
victory in a Harrisburg uniform, tying Dave Kern for the all-time lead in that career
category.

* Pelletier's two-assist night was the first of his six-year
career — in a regular-season game.

STANDINGS WATCH

If the Los Angeles-Charlotte scrap is made up sometime this
week — heavy rains knocked out power in Charlotte Wednesday night and forced a
postponement — the City Islanders could find themselves parked in fourth place
by the time Monday morning's workout begins at In The Net.

So if LA and Charlotte play and the victor — assuming there
is one — goes on to beat its other opponent this week (LA visits Charleston and
Charlotte is scheduled to host Phoenix) one of those teams will push into third
place.

Should LA and Charlotte draw, a Charlotte victory Saturday
night over Phoenix would pop the Eagles into a third-place tie with Harrisburg.

If the LA-Charlotte match is not made up sometime this week,
the City Islanders will be sitting in third place when their plane leaves for
Phoenix.